Traditional New Year's Lucky Foods

11 years ago

A fun read about some of those "you must eat this on New Year's" foods. Very short, only covers three dishes.

"The True Story of Traditional New Year's Lucky Foods"
Dec 30, 2014 SeriousEats.com by Sara Bir

"...I've always wondered about our family custom. My mother grew up in Ohio with lots of German and Polish neighbors, while my dad's gaggle of military brat siblings lived on Air Force bases in Florida and Louisiana. Mom brought the pork and kraut to our table's traditions; Dad, the black-eyes. But which cultures started these celebratory superstitions in the first place? And why those foods? "

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Obviously there are many more. My JapAm relatives in LA meet every New Year's to pound the rice for fresh mochi. FoodRepublic.com just ran "12 Grapes At Midnight: SpainÃ¢ÂÂs Great New YearÃ¢ÂÂs Eve Tradition, And Superstition."

Do you have any "lucky foods" in your family traditions?

Here is a link that might be useful: New Year's

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Comments (13)

duluthinbloomz4
11 years ago
Poppy seeds are lucky for us Poles. Anything you could add them to or put them on was a good thing - on and in bread rolls and makowiec pastry. Kapusta (cabbage) is a must and you can even add poppy seeds.
bcskye
11 years ago
We've always had cabbage and black eyed peas. Don't know when or where they started from.
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I don't know much about tradition lately, but I did cook up a batch of collards. No left overs! And blackeye peas three ways. A cheesy, somewhat spicy, tangy bean dip for an appetizer. A polenta/scrapple loaf that was refried and served in strips with a ketchup like sauce. And baked black eyes. Mmmmm. Cornbread too. All went so well with the baked ham.
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That's a great tradition! And some day all those cans will come in handy! My husband collects quarters, he started with the state quarters but just kept collecting the states even though he had a set. He has a a small duffel bag full of them. He was about addicted to Altoids so all the tins are filled with the quarters. He no longer goes through the Altoids but still saves the quarters. I had no idea how much he had saved till I opened the duffel bag one day. That definitely will come in handy some day. I collected dimes when I was a kid, my grandfather got me started on it with some dime banks. He brought me to the bank and opened a savings account in my name, he started it off with some money then we would go deposit all my dimes when I had filled all the banks. I think that was a great tradition and taught me early about saving money and watching it grow.
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Make Black-eyed Pea Chowder and stay in my jammies all day. Here's my recipe for the Black-eyed Pea Chowder - Black-eyed Pea Chowder 1 c. chopped celery 1 c. chopped onion 1 c. chopped bell pepper 2 large cans black-eyes 1 can beef consommÃ© 2 cans stewed tomatoes 1 lb. bacon, fried and crumbled SautÃ© first three ingredients in bacon drippings. Mix all ingredients and heat through. This recipe is best if you prepare it the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator before heating. Excellent with cornbread!
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Raven, just now seeing this, and I have never heard of this before...but I might do it next year....if I don't forget. I wanted to tell you what one of my friends does every year. He picks up any found money...like coins he finds on the parking lot, or whatever. He goes to the Texas City dike to fish a lot and often finds money there too. Just wherever he finds it. He puts it in a coffee can. At the end of the year, he puts it in a closet....writes the year on the cap of the can. He never spends it. I asked him if he counted it, and he said no. I have known him for 40 years and he has always done this. No telling how much money he has squirreled away like that. He is one of my best friends. I call him a "junk" friend because that is our common interest...we go to the flea markets together. He is very quirky...you should see his house! He has a duplex....lives in both sides of it. He might be called a "hoarder" but he is very neat and clean and everything is extremely well organized. He has dozens of collections. Like, in his bedroom is a tall cabinet with glass doors and many shelves. In it is many, many, many figurines of women/girls in long dresses. I said, "David, what is this?" He said, "Ladies in long dresses."
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sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
11 years ago
A dime in the black-eyed peas...(like the baby in a mardi gras king cake).
A good luck thing...Grandma always did that...Tennessee.
shambo
11 years ago
In my Greek family, it was always vasilopita, a very rich and dense New Year's cake. The cakes were decorated with blanched almonds brushed with an egg glaze before baking, so they had a shiny, golden brown finish.

The tradition was to hide a coin in the cake, and whoever ended up with the coin was assured of good luck for the rest of the year. My grandmother would bake individual cakes for all the grandchildren. And she'd hide several coins in each mini-cake. It was always so much fun to cut into my personal cake and discover coin after coin.
blizlady
11 years ago
For us Hungarians and Germans, pickled herring is a must on New Year's Eve. My grandparents and parents always served it on Christmas and New Year's Day.

This post was edited by blizlady on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 0:21
pkramer60
11 years ago
Pork and cabbage of some kind for NY day to ensure luck and prosperity for the coming year for this German household. I also have my pink marzipan pig, the "Gluck Schwein" on the table to bring luck.

Aren't the black eyed peas a symbol of money for the new year?
User
11 years ago
We have black-eyed peas and collard greens but that wasn't my family's tradition, we just adopted the southern tradition from all the others here because we like it. I don't remember my family ever doing anything traditional for New Year's. They did say that up home they had pork and cabbage with a coin thrown into the pot. I always remember that you should only do things you enjoy doing on New Year's day - whatever you do on New Year's day you will wind up doing for the rest of the year. And we weren't supposed to sweep the floor on New Year's day because it would sweep away all the good luck - then I saw on the news where there are some cultures where the tradition is to sweep the whole house to get rid of the bad luck. I have a single Uncle who has a single female friend who has him come to her house and walk into every room, some kind of superstition that it will bring her luck for the year.
ruthanna_gw
11 years ago
Being of PA Dutch heritage, I have eaten pork and sauerkraut every single New Year's Day of my life. One year, when we were in Martinique for the holiday, I packed a small can of kraut and a tin of yucky Vienna sausages in my suitcase so we could have a bite of each and avoid an unlucky year.

I don't know the exact origins of the custom but follow it anyway. Some years, I make it in the traditional style as in the pic (with kielbasa added) and other years, include the two items in different ways.

Tomorrow, we'll be having spiced pork tenderloin with bourbon sauce, kraut and potato latkes, yellow string beans, and golden beet and orange salad with ginger dressing.
writersblock (9b/10a)
11 years ago
>Aren't the black eyed peas a symbol of money for the new year?

The internet says the black-eyed peas are for coins and collards for greenbacks, but I never heard that when I was growing up, just that hopping john with collards on NYD was essential for luck.
melissa_thefarm
11 years ago
I don't have any personal traditions for the holidays, though growing up in the South we sometimes did Hoppin' John and collards. Lentils are traditional in Italy, the legumes symbolizing coins, and so prosperity in the new year.
dedtired
11 years ago
We always ate fish as the first food of the New Year. I have no idea why we did that. My parents often had a New Year's party and we would eat shrimp right after we were done saying Happy New Year. If they went out, we opened a can of tuna and ate that. I am surprised that we did not learn the pork and sauerkraut tradition since my parents grew up near PA Dutch country.

Now my first food of the new year is cereal, because I go to bed before midnight and I have cereal for breakfast.
beachlily z9a
11 years ago
Growing up in the Denver area, green chili on New Year's Day was traditional. I'll be doing baby backs on the grill tomorrow (wanted to do them today, but heavy winds, spitting rain, mild temps prevented doing low and slow today). The green chili can easily be sneaked into the NYD meal!
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
11 years ago
Fatty, rich meats & foods that represent money: we're having roasted ducklings, Hoppin' John & greens tomorrow....

Traditional New Year's Lucky Foods

Comments (13)

duluthinbloomz4

bcskye

Related Discussions

sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)

shambo

blizlady

pkramer60

User

ruthanna_gw

writersblock (9b/10a)

melissa_thefarm

dedtired

beachlily z9a

carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10

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